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Cutting From The Middle Of A Horizontal Stack Sockeye's Wheelhouse | |
Cutting from the middle in a horizontal stack is a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, you have the freedom to cut in any direction, your defender is on an island with no deep help, and the offense is looking to you to make a play. Awesome. On the other hand, the flat stack presents some unique challenges for cutters. I'm going to focus on the unpredictability of the flat stack as a cutting problem, and explain a couple simple adjustments that address this issue. Most downfield cutting happens in flow, off of a moving disc, and not from a stopped position. In a flat stack, cutting opportunities off of disc movement can be sudden and difficult to predict, even for flat stack veterans. In a flat stack, the disc may be thrown downfield from any lateral position on the field, and in many systems the middle cutter(s) will always be the priority target(s). A good opportunity can arise at any time—as soon as a thrower gets the disc with his mark trailing, it's on! There is no easy-to-predict, side-to-side rhythm (like a vert stack dump-swing) that precedes a good cutting opportunity. Additionally, many flat stack offenses operate at a higher tempo than their vert stack counterparts, focusing on rapid disc movement and "team offense" rather than isolating cutters for extended periods of time. This makes cutting opportunities even more rapid and unpredictable, and also puts more pressure on the cutter to hit the cutting window on-time. If the cutter is open but late, the thrower is already looking to the next option. So, what to do? 1. Keep your eyes up 2. Always be preparing 3. Hone your deep game Mike Caldwell, besides being a central figure in Sockeye's offensive unit, has been designing and scheming the Sockeye offensive strategy for the past 5 years. | |